Cochecho Arts Festival Begins in July

DOVER—
The 24th season of the Cochecho Arts Festival opens at 11 a.m. on Sunday, July 4th, 2010 at the Rotary Arts Pavilion in Henry Law Park with a celebration of the Fourth of July. This year, the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce has teamed up with the Dover Recreation Department to present a full day of family entertainment, including the City’s annual fireworks display. The day will begin with an authentic-costumed historic re-enactment of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of City Hall, followed by a Patriotic-themed Children’s performance by local storyteller, puppeteer and musician Marcus Gale at the Rotary Arts Pavilion beginning at 1 p.m. Following the Children’s Show will be a Gundalow Race on the Cochecho River. Families may purchase small wooden Gundalows and participate in the race, with prizes being awarded to the owners of the winning Gundalows. The proceeds from this event will benefit the Historic Gundalow, which will be on site throughout the day, affording people a chance to step aboard and learn about the role that the Gundalow played in Dover Mills commerce during the 1800’s. As the Gundalow race concludes, there will be a series of musical performances at the Pavilion, featuring Mike Morris at 3 p.m., followed by the Dan Walker Band at 4:15 p.m., and the day’s headline performance by Livingston Taylor beginning at 7 p.m., and concluding with the City fireworks display at 9:15 p.m. Throughout the day, there will also be a variety of additional events, displays, vendors and demonstrations in Henry Law Park, including a kayaking exhibition, a firefighter’s Touch-A-Truck Exhibit, food and refreshments.
The Festival’s Friday Night Concert Series presents local and regional music performed by artists like Livingston Taylor, the Boston Horns and the Jumbo Circus Peanuts.
This year’s Friday Night Concerts will also feature local artisans displaying their work on the Festival grounds. Additionally, opening and closing Friday nights will feature food vendors along Henry Law Avenue.
The Tuesday Children’s Series has grown dramatically in recent years, and these popular family events now average about 500-600 attendees per week. The Rotary Arts Pavilion is located in Henry Law Park, and is footsteps away from the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, the City’s Indoor Swimming Pool, and the playground and grassy riverside expanse of the Park itself. There are also several family-friendly restaurants and retail shops in the immediate vicinity - including the Noggin Factory Toy Store, Smiley’s, La Festa and Harvey’s Bakery – and collectively, all of this makes for an extremely enjoyable and fun-filled day that takes place in a very cozy, yet highly visible area of the downtown. Each week, the Children’s Series features a different performance, including music, dancing, puppeteers, jugglers, magicians, unicyclists and theatrical performances.
The Rotary Arts Pavilion is also home to the popular Shark in the Park Summer lunchtime concert series featuring many of the areas most popular rock bands. The Shark in the Park series is designed to give downtown residents and employees a chance to get outside during the summer months to enjoy the concerts and the beautiful surroundings of the Henry Law Park. The Thursday noon “Shark in the Park” Luncheon Series will begin on July 8th at Henry Law Park with Big John and the Twins.
The Wednesday Market Series is an entirely new Festival component being offered for the first time this year between 3:30 and 6 p.m. every Wednesday from July 7th through Aug. 8th, and is the only segment of the Cochecho Arts Festival that is not held at the Rotary Arts Pavilion in Henry Law Park. The Market Series will consist primarily of “unplugged” acoustic music, and the setting will be the newly relocated Farmer’s Market situated directly in front of the Chamber Visitor Center at 550 Central Avenue.
Visit cochechoartsfestival.org for more information on the season’s schedule with photos of the performers and links to their websites, a history of the Festival, directions to Henry Law Park, news articles, information on how to get involved, and much more.
Festival goers are encouraged to show their support for the Festival by purchasing a Festival button for $10. This commemorative button features a unique Festival logo for 2010 and includes numerous discounts and free benefits from supporting businesses. Additionally this year, button holders will be entered into a drawing for a 2 for 1 chance to win a 37” Samsung HD Television from WOKQ. One TV will be given away at the intermission of the Livingston Taylor show on the 4th of July and the second will be given away at the intermission of the closing night show on Aug. 13th.
Buttons and official Cochecho Arts Festival programs are available the end of June at the Chamber Visitor’s Center and all Festival events. The program also will be available through state and local visitor centers and Dover downtown merchants
Photo caption: Livingston Taylor will perform in Dover on July 4 to kick off the Cocheco Arts Festival. (Courtesy photo)

International Children’s Festival: A Day of Family Fun in Downtown Somersworth

By Candi Enman
Staff Columnist
SOMERSWORTH—
What is the third largest island in Europe? If you were one of the thousands who attended the Somersworth International Children’s Festival on Saturday, June 19th, you likely know the answer.
The festivities of the 30th annual event began with a night before celebration on Friday with food, vendors, live music and fireworks at Somersworth High School. On Saturday downtown Somersworth’s Main Street and Noble Pines Park were filled with food, song, crafts, demonstrations, games and activities for kids and adults alike.
Live music could be found at every corner of the event. Smiling children with painted faces wearing crowns they decorated themselves led their parents and grandparents from the bounce house to the train ride to the games at the exhibitor tables. Then it was a quick stop to cool down at the misting tent, before heading up the hill to Noble Pines where they found the petting zoo and a special entertainment stage where the young, and young at heart, danced and sang along to bubblegum pop tunes.
“This is the fourth year we’ve come and it gets better every year,” said Amanda Myers. “The kids have so much fun.” She and her sister Beth teamed up to bring four children to the Festival. Amanda’s daughter, five-year old Gracie, exclaimed, “The tiger slide was fun,” while her friend, four-year old Sophia said, “I loved petting the animals.” Five-year old Xander was too shy to comment.
At the World Cultures Area children and their parents picked up their official passports and set out to meet representatives from 14 different nations, among them Morocco, Russia, Greece, Dominican Republic and Ecuador.
The goal was to visit each country to have their passport stamped. Once filled with stamps, passports were presented and entered into a drawing for a $100 Toys ‘R Us gift certificate, passes to Water Country and tickets to see the Portland Sea Dogs. And if that wasn’t incentive enough to visit all of the countries, new this year was a trivia contest. Those who answered the 14 questions correctly earned a chance to win a Strafford Farms ice cream certificate.
Before making their way into the World Cultures Area, the Fournier family of Somersworth stopped by the Friends of the Earth, Sea and Space Center’s booth to play the “ducky game” and with assistance from UNH Marine Docents, touch live starfish, urchins and crabs.
Five-year old Astrid Fournier was excited to be at the Festival, “a reward for sleeping in her room last night,” said her mother, Tara. When asked what her favorite part of the day was, Astrid replied, “the puppy balloons and the fish games.”
The Festival was sponsored by the City of Somersworth and Service Credit Union. “This was a fantastic year,” commented Somersworth Festival Association Director, Sue Gregoire. “Friday night’s celebration saw the most people ever. It was the best weather in quite a few weekends and great all the way around.” She added, “We want to thank everyone who came, as well as all of the supporters, volunteers and board members. It was fabulous. We’re ready to go another 30 years.”
(By now you’ve had a chance to Google, or maybe you knew the answer? Ireland is the third largest island in Europe.)
Photo caption: The Fournier Family attended the Festival for the first time this year (Candi Enman photo)